"Chuck Knocks" is back for another season, but for the first time in five years our Seahawks Opponent Training Camp Previews will live on our website. Fear not, The Feltsulator is coming with us to the website. Game by game, Jackson Felts will simulate the entire 2020 season (not sure he can take the fans out of the stands, so sorry about the lack of authenticity). I'll handle the rest...
WEEK 5: MINNESOTA VIKINGS
THE INTERESTING SCALE: C-
HC Mike Zimmer has been at the helm of the Vikings for six seasons. (Cue History Channel's Vikings mediocre campaign could be a harbinger of things to come.
TheVikingshad a top five scoring defense despite ranking 14th in yards allowed. They had the 8th ranked scoring offense despite finishing 16th in yards. Zimmer returned to a running approach, but his star RB is threatening a holdout. Kirk Cousins will be making $28 million to be Zimmer's second option for scoring points. Meanwhile, his #1 passing target now plays for Buffalo. Zimmer seems to be steering this Viking ship back into a sea of mediocrity, and nothing is interesting about average.
THE NEW FACE AT VIKINGS CAMP: JUSTIN JEFFERSON
Funny thing about trading your best WR. It tends to leave a hole. The Vikings used the draft to plug it, grabbing LSU's Justin Jefferson in the first round. But this is the NFL; Jefferson won't be lettering in "shooting fish in a barrel" with Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase, like he did in Baton Rouge last year.
Minnesota is undoubtedly banking on Adam Thielen bouncing back from an injury-riddled 2019 that saw him catch 80 fewer balls from the previous season, but make no mistake Jefferson is expected to produce from jump.
STAR OF VIKINGS CAMP: DALVIN COOK
The RB is threatening to holdout, and the Vikings are threatening to meet his demands. Cook has managed to play just 29 games during his three NFL seasons, finally breaking through in 2019 with a 14-game performance that produced over 1600 yards and 13 touchdowns. Cook's upside is certainly higher than Chris Carson's, but he hasn't been the better player through three seasons. And yet the Vikings seem on the verge of caving to his demands rather than risk playing without him while Seattle expects the lower-paid Carson to happily report for duty.
FANTASY PICK: ALEXANDER MATTISON
CBS Sports Dave Richard was asked to make a bold fantasy prediction for the upcoming season. His response? "Alexander Mattison will be RB1... FOR THE ENTIRE LEAGUE!"
Wha-wha-what!?!?!
I mean, Mattison did average 4.6 yards per carry as Cook's rookie backup last season. And if Cook holds out? And this Mattison guy is a 220-pound... Wait. No. I'm not playing your little game, Dave. Don't get me wrong: you made me want to draft him, but as a sleeper, just as God intended.
OUTLOOK: 7-9
Simply put: The Vikings missed their window. They couldn't even cash in on history's flukiest Hail Mary or a Kyle Rudolph push off. The Vikings have had some good teams under Zimmer but their chance at greatness has passed. Skol.
VIKINGS AT SEAHAWKS: WHAT WILL BE SAYING MONDAY MORNING?
"Who didn't see that coming? Carroll owns Zimmer. 6-0 since he took over in Minnesota. I mean, a prime time game, at home (fans or no fans), Cook continuing his holdout, my only surprise is that it was as close as 27-21... I'll say this, Justin Jefferson is going to be damn good. I'll also say this, DK already is... Carson sent another message last night. 106 yards & another score. Hope he has enough to gas to make it to the end. Dude deserves to be paid... This Seattle pass rush just isn't going to happen, is it? 4-1 record with four total sacks? The two don't add up. The pass rush has to get better or the win percentage WILL get worse."
But that's just sassy talk. The Feltsulator knows all...
After falling to the Patriots in the first home primetime game of 2020, the Feltsulator Seahawks responded with wins over Dallas and Miami. Now comes another home primetime game against the Minnesota Vikings. Seattle grabbed early control with a first half touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett (video 1) and led 13-0 at the half. What followed was a purple wave as the Vikings scored 17 unanswered points including touchdowns by Kyle Rudolph and Justin Jefferson in the fourth quarter to take a 17-13 lead. But down late, it's Russell Wilson time. And with less than five minutes left, he pulled off another comeback, finding Chris Carson in the endzone on a beautiful floated pass for the go-ahead score (video 2). Seattle's defense held strong, never allowing the Vikings to get past midfield for the rest of the game, and the Feltsulator Seahawks won 20-17, advancing to 4-1 on the year.
Stats:
Russell Wilson: 28 of 37 for 288 yards and 2 TD
Kirk Cousins: 21 of 32 for 247 yards and 2 TD
Chris Carson: 29 rushes for 92 yards
Dalvin Cook: 19 rushes for 66 yards
Phillip Dorsett: 7 catches for 61 yards
Tyler Lockett: 6 catches got 71 yards and 1 TD
Kyle Rudolph: 6 catches for55yards and 1 TD
Justin Jefferson:5catches for 64 yards and 1 TD